Joseph Harvey (11 June 1918 – 24 February 1989)
was an English
football player and later manager. He spent much of his career at
Newcastle United; he was the club's longest serving captain, manager, and, as of 2022, the last to win a major trophy.
Playing career
Harvey began his career at
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
in November 1936. At Wolves Harvey made no appearances and moved onto
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, were Harvey went on to make 37 appearances in the 1937–38 season.
[ Harvey was then released by Bournemouth and he signed for ]Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
...
in 1938.[
At the outbreak of World War 2 Harvey joined the ]Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
going on to become a sergeant-major in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps.[ During the war period he made guest appearances for ]Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
and Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
.[ In the 1943–44 season Harvey made 28 appearances for Bradford City and then 25 appearances in the following season.][ His form in his last season at Bradford impressed Newcastle United and on 20 October 1945 Newcastle United paid Bradford £4500 for his services.][
]
Newcastle United
He quickly established himself in Newcastle's youthful side and after an impressive debut against Barnsley was made captain of the side. Before playing for Newcastle Harvey was an established inside forward, at Newcastle he began to settle in the half-back position. At the end of his first season with the club he was demobbed
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...
. Partly thanks to his time as a sergeant, he was an authoritative figure amongst the Newcastle players who had the utmost respect for him. However, his time at the club was not without controversy. In the 1946–47 he was memorably suspended by the club's directors, along with teammate Len Shackleton
Leonard Francis Shackleton (3 May 1922 – 28 November 2000) was an English footballer. Known as the "Clown Prince of Football", he is generally regarded as one of English football's finest ever entertainers. He also played cricket in the Minor ...
, after going on strike against the quality of accommodation the club had provided the team. Both players were forced to make a public apology for their actions. Harvey was also believed to have been involved in the illegal selling of tickets for the 1952 FA Cup Final
The 1952 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1951–52 staging of the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), English football's main cup competition. The match was contested by Newcastle United and Arsenal at Wembley ...
, although he was never charged for this.
Despite the controversy he was still a popular player amongst the supporters because of his attitude and displays on the pitch. In the 1947–48 he was a big part of the team that gained promotion to the First Division, only missing five games throughout the whole campaign.
He captained the team to two successive FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
victories in 1951 and 1952. He retired from playing on 1 May 1953 at the age of 34, despite still being a first-team regular. His final game was a 1–0 win over Aston Villa. However his involvement in football and Newcastle was far from over as he worked towards becoming a coach. He began attending coaching sessions set up by Walter Winterbottom
Sir Walter Winterbottom (31 March 1913 – 16 February 2002) was an English football player and coach. He was the first manager of the England national team (1946–1962) and Director of Coaching for The Football Association (the FA). He ...
soon after retiring from playing. These sessions helped him to continue working at Newcastle as a trainer for two years. During this time he watched from the sidelines as the club won the FA Cup for the third time in a five-year period. In 1954 he took charge of Northern League club Crook Town who had reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup and took intensive training sessions in readiness for their final against local rivals Bishop Auckland, at the time considered the top amateur side in the country. After a 2–2 draw at Wembley before 100,000 fans and another 2–2 draw at St. James' Park, Newcastle before 52,000 Crook finally emerged triumphant 1–0 at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough, in front of a crowd of 39,000. The club felt that Harvey's coaching sessions had made the difference.
Management career
Wanting to find his way into top-level management, Harvey took control of struggling Barrow. Keeping the club in the league proved near impossible; the squad consisted of just five players upon his appointment. Consequently, Harvey had to apply for re-election by goal average only in 1955–56. He soon left Barrow and was appointed manager of Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Locat ...
in 1956, where he initially struggled too, but Harvey's influence gradually saw the Workington nearing promotion. He applied for the vacant manager's job at his beloved Newcastle United in 1958, but lost out to Charlie Mitten. The position became available again in 1962 and this time Harvey was successful in his application.
Newcastle United
Harvey was appointed manager of Newcastle United in 1961.
In 1968–69 he won the Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...
with Newcastle.[
The last player Harvey signed at this time was John Tudor who was signed for a bargain £888 from ]Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
and he proved to be an outstanding strike partner for Malcolm Macdonald
Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle ...
. With the new look side in place, Newcastle finished 11th in 1971–72. For 1972–1973 Harvey again used Newcastle's excellent youth system and brought through young fullbacks Alan Kennedy
Alan Kennedy (born 31 August 1954) is an English former professional footballer who played the majority of his career as a left back for Newcastle United and then Liverpool. He was a stalwart member of the latter team that won many honours f ...
and Irving Nattrass
Irving Nattrass (born 20 December 1952) is an English former footballer who played primarily as a right back for Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
Born in Fishburn, England, Nattrass attended Ferryhill Grammar School and signed with Newcastle at ag ...
. Newcastle improved and finished eighth, just missing out on qualifying for the UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
. Tony Green
Anthony John "Tony" Green (born 29 January 1939) is an English sports commentator and television presenter.
Darts career
A former amateur player, who played county darts for Lancashire, he was the BBC's lead commentator when they showed t ...
was forced to retire at just 26 because of constant knee injuries and Harvey used the compensation money Newcastle got to sign his replacement Terry McDermott
Terence McDermott (born 8 December 1951) is an English former football midfielder who was a member of the Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s, in which he won three European Cups and five First Division titles. He was capped 25 times ...
from Bury.
1973–74 was a big season for Newcastle United. The new attacking team put together by Harvey was being tipped to take one of the major honours come the season's end. By November Newcastle were second in the league, but they fell away to finish 15th, and in the League Cup they were knocked out in the third round. It was down to the FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
. Hendon were first up in the third round and a shock 2–2 draw at home meant that Newcastle had to go through a replay at Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200.
History
It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...
to see off the non-league side 4–0. Scunthorpe United were next up in the fourth round, and another shock 1–1 draw at St James' meant another replay against lower league opposition. Macdonald scored twice in the replay to crush Scunthorpe's hopes in a 3–0 win. The fifth round saw a difficult away draw to West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
, on a quagmire of a pitch and in front of the TV cameras. Newcastle were majestic, winning 3–0 with Macdonald scoring again. In the 6th round they were 3.0 down at home to Nottingham Forest when their fans invaded the pitch causing the players to return to the dressing room and play was delayed. When the game did restart Newcastle staged a comeback and won 4.3. The FA ordered the game to be replayed and after an initial 0.0 draw Newcastle won through 1.0 thanks to a McDonald goal. Newcastle faced Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
at Hillsborough in the semi final. Macdonald scored two and Newcastle won 2–0; Harvey would sign Burnley defender Geoff Nulty for the next season after impressing in this game. Newcastle United were through to their first FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
final since 1955, where they would play Bill Shankly's Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. Newcastle had a poor build up to final with preparations not going to plan: the tracksuit tops the players were meant to be wearing did not turn up, and they wore purple as they walked out at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
. Macdonald was the key man for Newcastle, having scored in every round for a total of eight goals in the competition. Liverpool played well and coasted to a 3–0 win with Kevin Keegan scoring twice. It was the end of an era for Harvey; the next season he signed Micky Burns and paid Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
a club record £200,000 for Tommy Craig
Thomas Brooks Craig (born 21 November 1950) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Craig had an 18-year playing career as a midfielder, playing over 100 league games for English clubs Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United. Towards th ...
, but Newcastle could only finish a low 15th, despite getting some revenge on Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, beating them 4–1 at St James' Park.
Harvey resigned after pressure from supporters at the end of the 1974/75 season. He did come back and help out as manager for Newcastle United for a few days in August 1980, whilst Newcastle were in their third year in Division 2, and Bill McGarry had just been fired. Harvey took control, and is given credit for steering Newcastle to two wins and a draw. He then saw a friend of his, Arthur Cox, appointed, who would later go on to sign Kevin Keegan and get Newcastle back into the top league again. Harvey has been described as a manager who had a flaw tactically but who had man management skills on a par with the likes of Alex Ferguson.
In April 2014 a Joe Harvey memorial plaque measuring 5 ft × 3 ft in solid bronze was to be erected on the perimeter wall of the Gallowgate End at St. James' Park. The plaque was funded by the Fairs Club, founded by Bill Gibbs.
Honours
As a player
Newcastle United
* FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
: 1950–51, 1951–52
As a manager
Crook Town
* FA Amateur Cup: 1953–54
Newcastle United
* Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...
: 1964–65
* Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1968–69
References
Sources
;Books
*
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Joe
1918 births
1989 deaths
Military personnel from Yorkshire
People from Edlington
Footballers from Doncaster
Royal Artillery soldiers
Royal Army Physical Training Corps soldiers
English footballers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
AFC Bournemouth players
Newcastle United F.C. players
Bradford City A.F.C. players
Crook Town A.F.C. managers
Barrow A.F.C. managers
Workington A.F.C. managers
Newcastle United F.C. managers
English Football League players
English Football League representative players
Association football wing halves
English football managers
English Football League managers
FA Cup Final players
British Army personnel of World War II